Paid distribution, or paying money for the distribution of your videoExtended ArticlePaid Video Distribution: Why You Need It and How to Use ItYou survived your production cycle and created a spectacular video — now, what do you do with it? The answer, of course, is distribute… Read More via advertising, has become almost essential to the successful marketing of any video. Because most sites don’t charge for the use of their services (think Facebook or content sites like Buzzfeed), charging for distribution has become their one way of earning money — meaning video creators like you sometimes have to pay more to get your content seen by a wider audience.
Want to get the word out there and boost your visibility on social media without taking years to build the audience? Then you should certainly leverage influencers. But the key is to find the right influencer. You don't have to go with influencers with millions of followers. You could opt for micro-influencers with tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand followers.
Footage: Think back to your audience, and the platform you’ll be publishing on and then peruse the library of footage available to you. Imagine you’re watching the footage with no text and no sound, does it elicit emotion on it’s own? Do you see a story developing? In addition to finding something dynamic, consider the look and feel of the people or environment in the video. You want to make sure that it is relatable and/or aspirational for your audience.
If you're looking for awareness, share your video content on social media and optimise it for video SEO. Consider how much you might need to spend on video ads on YouTube or Facebook to help speed up traction. Think about which influencers you can connect with to help expand your reach. As you move further down the funnel, you'll want to target leads where they're already showing interest and engagement with you: like on your website, in emails and in sales conversations.
Most of all, your video is never complete without a call-to-action as your final slide. You’re not creating video ads just for the fun of it, though it is fun, but because you want to lead your audience to do something. Clarify what you want them to do and exactly where they should go after seeing your add. The standard best practice would be adding your business logo, tagline and your website or link for that unique campaign.

One video is great, but the more often you post engaging video, the better. It may not be realistic to post videos every single day or for every single initiative, but if you’ve got a major campaign you’re working on or an initiative that would really benefit from video, dedicate some resources to video creation. Even overlaying text on a piece of stock footage can be highly engaging on your website and bring more visitors from organic search.

Nonetheless, NGO video marketing faces many challenges, particularly limited resources. 45% of nonprofit communicators report that their workload is too heavy and 17% say it is “much too heavy.” The good news is that even with these limitations of manpower and budget, an effective NGO video marketing strategy is still possible. Just follow these seven tips to get started:
One of the best ways to improve the look of your video is to include b-roll. B-roll is the supplementary footage included as a cutaway. This might include shots of a customer service rep talking on a phone, a designer editing your website, visuals of your office, or even screenshots of your product. The key with b-roll is to make sure each and every piece enhances the story.

One of the most important aspects of post-production is editing your video footage. Of course, that involves cutting and splicing together your b-roll, interviews, and lifestyle footage to create your story. But it also involves adjusting other visual elements, like white balance, color, and clarity, to accurately represent the story you want to relate. These edits will create the entire look and feel of your video, which highly affects its branding. After all, when you think of an Apple store, you don’t think of dim, romantic lighting, so make sure your color edits reflect your creative vision.

Video advertising is becoming more and more affordable and widespread. Video adoption grows partly because advances in technology but also because it’s easy to spread across the globe. Making marketing videos for your business requires creativity and knowledge of human psychology. The cocktail of these components makes it possible to create real miracles of advertising at minimal cost.
The trick? Find the right influencer in your niche so that you're targeting the right audience. It's not just about spreading your message. It's about spreading your message to the right consumer base. If you can do that properly, then you can likely reach a sizable audience for not much money invested when you think about the potential profit it can return.
When starting, choose two or three types of videos and create a bullet list or spreadsheet with proposed topics, a brief outline, and estimated length of the video. Keep in mind that videos up to 2 minutes long tend to get the most engagement. You also want to make sure that each video has a specific call to action for your viewers like subscribing to your email marketing contact list, calling your office, or purchasing a product on your ecommerce storefront.

Search algorithms are increasingly prioritizing web pages with video and videos now appear in 55 percent of Google keyword searches. Besides helping your website rank on relevant searches, videos also make your snippet (or the actual result listing content) bigger and more eye-catching, meaning searchers will likely see it before they see other results on the page.

Your first opportunity to delight comes directly after the purchase. Consider sending a thank you video to welcome them into the community or an on-boarding video to get them rolling with their new purchase. Then, build out a library of educational courses or product training videos to cater to consumers who prefer self-service or simply want to expand their expertise.

The popularity of video also means that more content at the top of the funnel has to be in video format. In B2C it’s almost obvious. But B2B-people are people, too. Video content is more likely to keep the audience in the comfort zone, and they will not engage in system 2 thinking. System 1 autopilot mental state should lead to less critical thinking, less friction, and more conversions.

That said, simply knowing how much video is being consumed and thus you need to be using video to grow your business, is not enough. The essential element of making video marketing work in your favor is creative content, strategy and consistency of publishing. Your videos need to be ones that get attention and engagement and you also need to approach it methodically with a performance mindset.
You may remember George Takei from Star Trek but now he is managing exceptionally written social media channels and has grown a massive following. How did he do it? He has mastered the art of a strong caption. His captions have a clear point of view, are littered with emojis (not a must but a great addition for many brands) and make elicit an emotional reaction, and better yet the motivation to comment and/or share with friends. This can be from a simple statement or an interesting question, as long as it’s authentic.
By creating information-dense, accessible, easy-to-interact-with video content, brands can develop a substantial online following and promote customer recall. For an example of a company that’s done this particularly well, consider Headspace, a meditation app that became a $250 million business. The app offers multiple levels of meditation, employing gamification to increase engagement. Users must complete and master each meditation level before advancing. Most sessions are in video format, beautifully crafted with illustrations and layouts true to the brand. It is elegant, consistent and engaging, heavily relying on video.

But while you're maintaining the fun level on set, remain vigilant. It's your job to pay attention to the little things, like making sure all of the mics are on or noticing if the lighting changes. Record each section many times and have your talent play with inflections. When you think they've nailed the shot … get just one more. At this point, your talent is already on a roll, and options will help tremendously during editing.

Begin with a review of your existing video content. Which formats and topics have you covered, and which have you missied? What's working and what isn't? A thorough audit will help to pick out the strengths and weaknesses of your current videos and suggest areas for improvement. Check out our blog post for a guide to conducting your own video audit.

Your iPhone might do a great job of focusing on the subject when you take photos, but when it comes to video the camera will continue adjusting and re-adjusting as you move around the scene. To solve this problem, lock the exposure before you press record. Hold your finger down on the subject of the video until a yellow box appears with the words “AE/AF Lock”.
In addition to visual editing, you can (and should) add graphic effects to your branded video. These graphic elements can include animation, text graphics, fade ins or outs, lower-third graphic overlays, interview names and titles, logos, product modeling, and more. These elements really tie all your branding efforts together, so use them smartly and you’ll have a professional video you can be proud of.
Posting your video on social platforms is also basically required, though the social channels you choose may differ depending on where your audience is most active. You’ll also want to think about posting your video natively; most social platforms give native videos preference over video links from other sources. Post your video natively where you can, and keep an eye on your platform-specific data.

Priit is the founder and CEO of DreamGrow Digital, an internet marketing and social media company. With his 20+ years internet marketing experience he is Helping companies to understand and use the digital marketing to reach their target audiences. He's also writing on a personal growth website FixWillPower.com. He has spoken at hundreds of seminars and conferences on different aspects of internet marketing. Priit is also the organizer of Digital Elite Camp, a leading traffic and conversion event.

Next come audience insights. You can't create video content useful to your audience without first researching who that audience is, what they care about and what their problems are. To discover what makes your target audience tick you'll need to go far beyond just demographics to qualitative data gathered from interviews and surveys. Finally, dividing your audience into marketing or buyer personas allows you to create even more relevant content tailored to their specific wants and needs.
Social content videos Extended ArticleWhy Your Company Needs a Social Media VideoThe combination of social media and video marketing is the most powerful way to reach potential customers. In the mid 2000s, numerous entertainment executives discovered… Read More are short video clips created solely for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. These are usually fun, playful, engaging, and designed to be shared. They can include lifestyle shots, a montage of scenes relating to your product or service, short interview sound bites or quotes, or just a beautiful shot of your product.
Do you want to attract a new audience to your brand? This top-of-funnel goal is the broadest and probably the easiest to measure. Attracting an audience means presenting your brand as the solution to a problem that was recently introduced to the viewer. This will likely be your first interaction with them, so you want to make sure it’s a memorable one.
Customer testimonials are usually between 30 seconds and two minutes long and can focus on one happy customer or numerous. These videos are highly versatile, meaning you can publish them almost anywhere. You’ll just want to make sure whoever you film is wholly authentic — a forced or fake-feeling testimonial could be more detrimental to your brand, so take some time to find the perfect person.
Finally, consider adding intro and outro music. Intro and outro music, or bookends, can serve as a theme for your content. These are a great choice if you don't need music throughout your entire video. Bookend music can help set the tone for your video, naturally split your content into chapters, and leave your viewers feeling they had a complete experience.

Now comes the script writing, the search for the perfect agency, the video review and edits, and celebrating finally having a beautiful, well-crafted video you can be proud of. The entire production process should take about two months with the right partner, but be sure to plan more time than you need for each of the following individual production stages so you don’t fall behind.

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Your first opportunity to delight comes directly after the purchase. Consider sending a thank you video to welcome them into the community or an on-boarding video to get them rolling with their new purchase. Then, build out a library of educational courses or product training videos to cater to consumers who prefer self-service or simply want to expand their expertise.

Hunker down and get to work learning the 101 of running an ad. Starting with Facebook is your best bet, and there you’ll be using the conversion optimization feature. Conversion Optimization guarantees that your videos are seen by a target audience who are likely to be interested in your business and will complete the lead of sales funnel you are hoping for.

This covers any type of marketing done for free by an influencer, including shoutouts on social media, product reviews, endorsements, mentions, and more. Many influencers are willing to help you distribute your content in exchange for something, maybe a reciprocal mention, a trial of your services, or an ongoing relationship. Think about what you’re willing to give for the promotion of your video. Depending on how much they can up your exposure, it just might be worth it.

Want to get the word out there and boost your visibility on social media without taking years to build the audience? Then you should certainly leverage influencers. But the key is to find the right influencer. You don't have to go with influencers with millions of followers. You could opt for micro-influencers with tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand followers.
Tripods range tremendously in price, and the quality of your tripod should depend on the level of camera and lens you have. If you're shooting with your phone, you can get by with a table mount like the Arkon Tripod Mount or a full-size tripod like the Acuvar 50” Aluminum Tripod. For a DSLR, Manfrotto makes a variety of trustworthy tripods starting with the Manfrotto BeFree and increasing in quality and price from there.